The Last Alibi
"The Last Alibi’ is a great book which I literally could not put down until finished."
Synopsis:
Defence attorney Jason Kolarich is back in another edge-of-your seat thriller and this time he may find himself in over his head, in more ways than one. James Drinker is a bit of an oddball. A funny looking, geeky loner, he walks into Jason Kolarich's office one day with a pre-emptive concern: two women have recently been murdered, seemingly by the same killer, and Drinker thinks he will be the police's main suspect.
One woman was his ex-girlfriend and the other was a friend. He's the only link between the victims and he has no alibi for the night of either murder and surely the police will realize it soon. Believing he's the target of a frame-up, Drinker hires Kolarich for his defence. However, there is something about James Drinker that appears 'off' from the start, but Kolarich doesn't give it too much thought. Until another murder occurs. And then another. And as he begins to probe his client's life and story more closely, it quickly becomes clear that nothing about James Drinker is what it seems and that the target of the frame-up isn't Drinker, but Kolarich. Unable to stop a serial killer and prove his own innocence without breaking his sworn attorney-client privilege, Jason Kolarich must hunt for the truth about Drinker, the series of brutal murders, and why he's been set up to take the fall. The answers will be beyond anything he could ever have imagined.
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Review:
Jason Kolarich has featured in Ellis's previous novels. In these books, Kolarich has been successful, arrogant and upbeat. However, in 'The Last Alibi', Kolarich is now addicted to prescription pain killers (which seems to be common with a lot of authors and I am still unsure as to why there is a fashion for protagonists to have this addition). Still working with his long-time friend and business partner, Shauna, Kolarich's life starts to spiral downwards with his latest client. He also becomes romantically involved with a new woman. From the start there are alarm bells ringing when Alexa Himmel comes into his life although I wasn't sure what problems she would yet cause. Both the new client and Alexa will cause issues for Kolarich who is struggling to contain his addiction, but the plot is excellently written and keeps twisting and changing right until the end. I would have preferred for the book to be written from just one perspective rather than changing from chapter to chapter as I found this off-putting at times. There was a balanced mix of thriller together with the clever legal courtroom footwork, rather than it being all legal based which can become a little tiresome. Ellis has managed to keep his main characters or Kolarich and Shauna fresh and keeps developing them instead of allowing them to become worn and repetitive. 'The Last Alibi' is a great book which I literally could not put down until finished.